


Find Ourselves in the Future

by greyskygirl, superstringtheory



Series: Find Ourselves Some Truth [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Political Animals
Genre: Adopted Children, Caretaking, Comfort Food, Crossover, Happy, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Weight Gain, a distinct lack of angst, after the happily ever after, dad bod
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-21 01:21:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11933370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyskygirl/pseuds/greyskygirl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/superstringtheory/pseuds/superstringtheory
Summary: Slices of life after the end of Find Ourselves Some Truth.





	Find Ourselves in the Future

**Author's Note:**

> This was always going to happen -- little glimpses of the future that we wanted to write about but that didn't fit into the main story. They will NOT appear in any particular order or on any kind of schedule. Props and love for this chapter go straight to viedangerouse, who had an idea (which I loved) and ran with it.

They’d gotten married two years ago, and so it had just seemed like the right time. 

Steve wanted a baby, and TJ did, too. A tiny baby who would never know anything but them. They pictured meeting the baby’s birth mother beforehand, maybe even keeping in contact with her as their child’s life progressed. 

But then the adoption agency mentioned the twin boys, a year and a half old. 

“They’re still babies,” TJ had said, “and they still won’t know anything but us. C’mon, Steve. It just feels _right_.” 

Despite leaving his Captain America suit behind (except for hospital visits and charity events and special requests from his husband), Steve still knew when to pick his battles. 

And now they’re coming up on their three-year anniversary and Alex and Edward are mischievous almost-three-year-olds and TJ couldn’t be any happier. It’s been a whirlwind year and a half since they adopted them, and he’s at a place in life where he never imagined he could be, not even in his wildest dreams. 

Anyone who knew party-hardy TJ Hammond from days of yore would have a hard time recognizing today’s “Daddy” Mr. TJ Rogers. 

TJ himself would have a hard time, too. There’s the happiness, and the kids, and-- well. There’s also the whole dad bod situation. 

“It’s not a _situation_ , babe,” Steve says, as TJ describes it as such self-deprecatingly to Natasha over dinner. “It’s you, and I think you look great.” He presses a kiss to the top of TJ’s head as he gets up to get the dessert out of the kitchen. 

“He’s right,” Natasha says, smoothing her napkin in her lap. “It stopped being a _situation_ about twenty pounds ago. Now you’re just a dad. Get used to it. Rock it. It seems like your chunk of meat doesn’t mind, so you shouldn’t, either.” 

Said chunk of meat then returns from the kitchen with the cherry pie he’d spent the afternoon on while TJ took the kids to the library and the park. 

Natasha doesn’t say anything verbally when she sees the much bigger slice Steve doles out for TJ, but her eyebrows make her message pretty clear. 

TJ blushes, but it’s not like he really minds, either. In fact, he’s gotten to really like this new, softer lifestyle. 

“Hey, Stevie,” he says. “Do we have any whipped cream to go with this?” 

From across the table, Natasha winks.

***

It’s not like TJ didn’t notice it happening-- not being able to button his dress shirts or pants, his mom saying, “You look good, honey, so _healthy_ ” instead of “You look thin; are you eating enough?,” which had been her previous refrain. But Steve didn’t seem to mind, and neither did TJ. He was busy with the twins, and with learning to cook, and with his rediscovery of how good it could be to just let go a little. 

The twins quickly learned that daddy would eat any of their leftovers, and Steve delighted in watching them press goldfish or bites of macaroni and cheese into their daddy’s mouth. 

“It’s good to see you eat,” he said, and TJ had plucked at his too-tight pants and said, “Really?” 

And Steve had nodded emphatically and said, “Really.” 

And so then it kind of became a Thing. TJ would snack throughout the day with the kids, and then he would cook big dinners for them at night and Steve would always be hopping up to grab TJ a second helping or even a third. 

His vices used to leave him wound up tight, manic and flustered and regretful. This new softness of self and spirit seemed so much better-- and so more often than not, TJ would find himself lying on the couch with a full belly and even fuller heart. 

Pretty soon, he noticed that Steve seemed weirdly intrigued by it, too. Steve, whose ears seemed to prick up at the sound of TJ rummaging in the kitchen for a snack. Steve, who was always pressing dessert or second helpings on him. Steve, whose hands often found their way down to TJ’s new love handles or little potbelly when they were making out. 

“So, are you into this?” TJ finally blurted out one night, when Steve’s hand made its way under his shirt to palm TJ’s stomach, sweetly rounded out with two big helpings of lasagna. 

Steve’s eyes were bright. “Into what?” he asked innocently, hand still circling TJ’s bellybutton. 

TJ had sat up then, drawing away from Steve a little. 

“You know-- _this_.” And he’d pooched his stomach out to (greater) prominence and had definitely not missed the way Steve’s gaze locked on it like a laser beam. 

TJ had laughed then. “Steven Grant Rogers. Are you a-- _chubby chaser_?” 

Steve had blushed bright red as the stripes on the American flag and said “... No” just a beat too late. 

TJ had laughed again, and then tackled Steve to give him a big smooch. 

“I knew it,” he said. “I knew there was a reason you keep plying me with desserts.” 

“It’s not exactly that,” Steve had said. “I mean, I love your body so much, but it’s not that I’m just into bigger guys. It’s more that you look so much happier and relaxed now. This”-- he’d reached out and placed a hand gently on the swell of TJ’s belly-- “reminds me of how well taken care of you are now.”

And TJ gets it. This isn’t a gut borne of eating too much junk food and takeout by himself; it’s from his husband serving extra helpings and from eating his kids’ leftovers and from being happy and content. So even if it means that he needs all new clothes and that he’s never going to fit into those twinky little button-ups again, he really doesn’t mind. 

Actually, he’s really enjoying it, and the fact that Steve likes it too just makes it all the better. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to come say hello, scream about the fic or its characters on Tumblr, please do! Over there, we're [whowaswillbe](http://whowaswillbe.tumblr.com) and [superstringtheory](http://superstringtheory.tumblr.com).


End file.
